"How can you let him run around, doing as he pleases?"

"Spending his days locked away in private luncheons with the Trickster ."

"It is bad enough you have allowed Loki to walk free after all he has done, but to allow Sir Anthony to cavort with him-"

The council members were all speaking at once, overlapping complaints about Tony's behavior the last two days, about how Loki had traipsed around the grounds as if he had a right to be there, demanding that Thor control his mate and instruct him as to the acceptable way to behave.

"They spent the entire day together! Had servants running to bring them food!"

"How can you allow Loki to have his hands on your Chosen Love?"

"Are you not outraged by their blatant disrespect for you?"

Thor had been home for all of five minutes, barely off his horse and through the doors of the castle before the council members had pulled him into the chambers and proceeded to yell and stomp about everything Tony and Loki had been doing in his absence.

"Forgive us, Our King, for bringing up such distasteful subjects, but Sir Anthony spent both nights in Loki's chambers."

"Both nights! And when a servant came to light a fire in the chambers, he saw them entwined on the bed. Naked! "

"Perhaps you should have learned of this mortals character before choosing him as your hjartslattur ."

Thor's eyes widened at that.

"Surely I misheard you." He said coldly. "Are you suggesting my Anthony is not my true mate? That I have chosen in error?"

Unfortunately, the council member did not hear the danger in his King's voice, nor did he hear the roll of thunder outside the castle, and opened his mouth to speak again.

"We are simply saying perhaps you chose hastily . There has not been an official joining ceremony, you are still able to nullify any sort of-"

Thor's fist came down on the desk with a crack and the room went deadly silent.

" First ." Thor stood to his full height, both hands planted on the desk. "You are members of my council. It is your job to suggest courses of action. The next time one of you assumes to demand that I do anything, will be the last time those words leave your mouth."

Thunder rolled again, filling the room this time and Thor's blue eyes flashed in anger.

" Second . You will refer to Loki as Prince and nothing less. I have chosen to forgive my brother, to welcome him home and anyone who disrespects or disagrees with my decision will remove themselves. This attitude that he is somehow less because of his mistakes will cease now. He is my brother, the Prince of Asgard and a god in his own right and you will treat him with respect or I will have something to say about it."

" Third ." Thor continued, his voice low and furious. "You are to never treat my Beloved as if he is any less of a King than I. He is my Chosen Love, my hjartslattur , the very source of the storms I call from the skies and if you dare to suggest that he is in error, is tarnishing this family and our bond, or needs to change to better fit your idea of acceptable- I will call my Lightning and unleash it on you."

Thor folded his arms, standing tall and terrible. "You all know the stories, the myths of the hjartslattur my brother and I will share and yet you persist in running to me anytime they are in a room alone. It is not your right to interfere in my personal affairs, and my love Anthony, our hjartslattur bond and my brother Loki all fall within that realm."

"You will cease this inquisition, and the next of you who comes running to sully the name of my love or the Prince will face my wrath."

Thor glared at them, a boom of thunder shaking the very floor.

"Have I made myself entirely and perfectly understandable."

"My Lord."

"Our King."

"Forgive us."

"Your Pardon, of course."

"A thousand apologies."

The councilmen were bowing as low as they could, apologizing frantically as they backed out of the room, and Thor remained standing, glaring , until the door had closed behind them.

And then he ran a hand down his face and laughed, because of course Tony and Loki had flaunted their bond in front of anyone who would look. Of course a servant had caught them naked in bed. That sounded exactly like something his perfect infuriating love and Trickster brother would do.

He laughed again, then stripped out of his riding clothes until he was just in a fitted shirt and pants, and took off to find his two favorite people.

"Thor!" Tony looked up from his book and was instantly scrambling to his feet, throwing himself at the blond giant, and Thor caught with him a grin.

"Anthony, Elskan mín , I am happy to see you."

"Happy to see you too." Tony looped his arms around Thor's neck, urging him down for a kiss. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, my love." Thor kissed him, long and sweet and Tony had both hands buried in Thor's hair, his legs wrapped around his waist before they broke apart, moans falling from his lips, Thor nearly growling in want as he held Tony against him. "I missed you."

"There are other people present, you know." Loki complained from his spot on the couch. " Must you carry on like that?"

"Settle, Loki." Thor set Tony down carefully, taking his hand and squeezing gently. "As I hear it, the two of you have passed most of the last few days carrying on exactly this way."

Loki tensed uneasily but Tony just rolled his eyes. "Have people been gossiping again?"

"Is it gossip?" Thor raised an eyebrow.

"No." Tony grinned even though his cheeks tinted red. "Not gossip if it's true."

"Thor." Loki stood and crossed the room warily. "We were not expecting to- we had no plans for this to happen while you were gone. Do not think we were sneaking-"

"I don't." Thor didn't let go of Tony, but reached out for Loki, clasping one hand on the back of his neck to bring their foreheads together. "I don't think that at all."

Loki relaxed into the touch, closing his eyes and dropping his shoulders, and when Tony reached for his hand, Loki threaded their fingers together and brought them to his chest.

"I am glad to be home." Thor said quietly and both Loki and Tony just sighed, basking in the warmth that always seemed to roll from the Thunder God, in the sense of security that came with having him home.

And there they stood, for several minutes, Tony holding both their hands, Thor holding Loki, and Loki refusing to open his eyes, lest he wake up and find out it was all a dream.

"How do you really feel about all this?" Tony asked, much much later after the three of them had shared dinner and heard all about Thor's journey.

And after Thor had literally thrown Tony over his shoulder and stomped towards their bedroom, unsure as to why Loki had called "Marauding Viking!" and Tony had laughed all the way up the stairs.

Thor had grumbled about Tony laughing, Tony had retorted that maybe he needed something in his mouth to shut him up-

-and that had been hours ago.

Now Tony lay sprawled on their bed, still face down and fairly unable to lift his head, much less his body after three different rounds with his love.

"A drink, beloved." Thor rolled Tony over, hiding a smile when he shrieked at being sensitive. "To rinse your mouth."

"Thank you." Tony swished the water and leaned over to spit into the empty pitcher of wine before draining the rest of the glass. "Not that I don't like how you taste and all-" he wiggled his eyebrows and Thor stretched back out alongside him, bringing him close for a hug.

"You did tell me that if you had something in your mouth you wouldn't be laughing." Thor reminded him and Tony cracked up all over again, burying his face in Thor's chest.

"I missed you. Love you."

"I missed you as well, Anthony." Thor held him close, feeling the calm that only came in the arms of his mate wash over him. "And to answer your earlier question, I feel exactly as I have always felt about it. To see you and Loki together only brings me joy. It reaffirms to me that you are in fact my hjartslattur for who else could bring such a change in my brother, except the one we are meant to share."

"You aren't mad that it happened while you were gone?" Tony sounded uncertain and Thor shook his head quickly.

" Elskan mín , you and I know better than anyone how when a moment is right, things just happen. Look where we were just a few months ago, alone in that compound, trying to work through your drinking, your eating. And one day we just caught each other's eye and that was what was needed. Who's to say when the right moment was? If my absence from the castle gave way to you being able to spend time free of distractions with Loki, then that is a good thing."

"I would hope, of course," Thor continued, quieter now. "I would hope that you are comfortable being with him when I am also here. It would pain me to think that it is something you feel you have to hide."

"You want to see us… together? That wouldn't be difficult for you? Or you know… weird as hell?"

"I am not asking to be present while you are in bed." Thor smiled. "Just that you don't jump apart when I enter a room, or pull away from him to be with me. You are doing nothing wrong, neither of you. And I don't want you to feel guilty."

"I don't!" Tony blurted then again, calmer. "I don't . Is that weird? It doesn't feel like cheating on you."

"You are not cheating on me." Thor assured him. "There is a particular word, for this bond. Fullkomin ást . Loosely translated it means perfect love. It is used in Asgard when talking of polyamorous relationships."

"Back home we call those threesomes." Tony raised his eyebrows.

"No." Thor smiled. "No. I mean perhaps, yes. But more than that, it is three or more people in a relationship where all is shared and everyone is loved and together equally and perfectly."

"Polygamy." Tony stated, reaching for the covers and Thor drew them up to his shoulders.

"No, not polygamy. That word tends to have a… harem connotation, correct? One husband figure with several wife figures, but the wives are not together, am I correct?"

"I guess." Tony frowned. "So fullcome-ass sounds…"

" Fullkomin ást, Anthony." Thor laughed. "And it is a rare bond, but the hjartslattur bond is Fullkomin ást at it's purest, yes? Two gods meant to share the same soul?"

"Right…"

"Then how could I have a problem?"

"You are…" Tony thought for a moment. "You are so much better at this than I am."

"I have lived centuries, Anthony. Too long to worry about the details of something like polyamory or cheating or anything like that. You have nothing to fear by pursuing this bond with Loki."

"Hm." Tony just snuggled closer until he was pushing Thor over and climbing on top.

"Again, sweetheart?" Thor questioned. "Has talk of our Fullkomin ást made you interested?"

"I missed you." Was all Tony said, and Thor knew him well enough to know what he wasn't saying.

After so much pain and loneliness his entire life, the idea of a perfect love was enough to bring Tony to tears.

So Thor just kissed the tears away as they moved together, and held his love close when they finished.

And when Tony fell asleep, wrapped in blankets and thoroughly exhausted, Thor slipped out of bed, throwing on a robe and heading to a different part of the castle.

"Thor!" Loki sat up in bed in surprise when Thor knocked, then opened his door. "What are you-" Loki pulled the blankets up to cover his chest, then felt ridiculous for his modesty and let them drop again.

"Is everything alright?" He asked. "Is Anthony-"

"Our Anthony is well." Thor assured him. "Sleeping. I thought perhaps you would like to join us."

"Join you." Loki repeated dumbly. "In your… in your bed. You and Anthony."

"Yes." Thor motioned to him. "Come now."

"Thor, I do not think-"

"I explained to our Anthony the idea of Fullkomin ást tonight." Thor said softly.

"Perfect love." Loki translated. "Ah. He was worried that you and I would be jealous of one another and cause problems." he sighed. "Mortals and their silly views. Do you know he asked me about shape shifting and fell right over when I mentioned shifting between all the genders?"

"Humans have only two recognized genders, Loki." Thor's eyes were twinkling. "You should be careful with your secrets. You might break our Anthony's mind."

"You say that so casually." Loki looked down at his hands. "Our Anthony. It's so easy for you."

"Of course." Thor frowned. " Of course he is our Anthony."

"Of course." Loki repeated with a chuckle. "Everything has always been so clear for you. Of course he is our Anthony. Of course it's not a problem for he and I to be- to be-"

"To be together." Thor finished. "And have you, then? Have you cemented your bond? I feel as if he would tell me, but we only had a few moments before he fell asleep to talk."

"Not entirely." Loki's hands clenched into fists. "I was not quite- we tried to and I couldn't-" a frustrated groan. "We have not cemented our bond in a traditional way, no. I was simply too-"

"Loki." Thor's voice gentled. "There will be time for that sort of talk later, if you wish. We much to discuss, you and I, but be assured, the topics will never be about whether you and our Anthony may or may not be together, do you understand?"

"I-I understand."

"Then come now." Thor motioned for him again. "Anthony would enjoy waking up to both of us."

"Very well."

The next morning, Tony stretched and yawned, pressing his ass back into Thor, smiling when his love rumbled invitingly, his arm tightening around Tony's waist.

Then his eyes flew open wide when a hand touched his face, when cool lips kissed his forehead.

"Lo." He whispered. "When did you get here? I'm not complaining but what's going on?"

Loki smiled into his eyes, interrupting him by brushing their noses together. "Good morning, darling. Thor suggested that your would enjoy waking to both of us."

"Oh." Tony flushed. "I'm glad you're here. This is nice. Both of you here, I mean. I like it."

Thor kissed the back of Tony's neck drowsily. "It is nice, however it is not daylight yet. Both of you back to sleep."

"Sorry honey." Tony turned his head so he could kiss Thor, then reached for Loki, sighing happily when he pressed close as well. "You heard him, Lo. Back to sleep."

"Whatever you wish, Anthony." Loki kissed his cheek and lay back down.

Thor met his gaze over Tony's head and they looked at each other for a long moment before Loki closed his eyes to sleep again.

Thor held them both until the sun rose.